Press means

ABSTRACT

A PRESS IN WHICH A LOWER PLATEN RECEIVES A TRUSS OR FRAME AND ASSOCIATE MULTI-NAIL PLATES AND AN UPPER RECTANGULAR PLATEN IN PRESSED TOWARDS THE LOWER PLATEN BY A SINGLE HYDRAULIC PLATEND AND CYLINDER ASSEMBLY WHICH OPERATES THROUGH A PAIR OF LEVER ASSEMBLIES WHICH FULCRUM ON ROLLERS ON THE UPPER PLATEN TOWARDS THE FOUR CORNERS THEREOF. THE UPPER PLATEN IN MOVABLE ON RAILS RELATIVE TO THE LOWER PLATEN AND HAS PLATES TRAVELLING UNDER SURFACES OF THE RAILS SO THAT AN UPLIFT FORCE DURING PRESSING IS TRANSMITTED TO SUCH SURFACES OF THE RAILS.

Sept. 20, 1971 Filed July 7,. 1969 E. E. DAGLEY PRESS MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 P 20, 1971 E. E. DAGLEY I 3,605,608

, PRESS MEANS Filed July 7, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 3,605,608 PRESS MEANS Edgar Edward Dagley, Birkenhead, North Island, Auckland, New Zealand, assignor to Automated Building Components (NZ) Limited, Glen Innes, Auckland,

North Island, New Zealand Filed July 7, 1969, Ser. No. 839,463

Int. Cl. B30b 1/08 US. Cl. 100-226 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A press in which a lower platen receives a truss or frame and associate multi-nail plates and an upper rectangular platen is pressed towards the lower platen by a single hydraulic platen and cylinder assembly which operates through a pair of lever assemblies Which fulcrum on rollers on the upper platen towards the four corners thereof. The upper platen is movable on rails relative to the lower platen and has plates travelling under surfaces of the rails so that an uplift force during pressing is transmitted to such surfaces of the rails.

In the building industry, increasing use is being made of multi-nail plate timber fasteners, for example, in fabricated timber trusses. In order to satisfactorily fix the fasteners in place, it is preferable for a press to be used. Presses at present available, require heavy hydraulic rams to provide the necessary operating force. Also, the presses are stationary, thus requiring the truss to be moved under the press for various fastenings to be fixed in place.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention, to provide a press which will at least go a considerable distance towards reducing the abovementioned disadvantages in a simple yet effective manner, or which will at least provide the public with a useful choice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, in one aspect, the invention consists in a press means comprising a bottom platen extending over an area adapted to receive at least a substantial part and preferably all of a truss or frame, members of which are to be held together by multi-nail plate timber fasteners, rail means on either side of said bottom platen, a support frame movably mounted on said rails, a top platen supported from said support frame so as to be movable vertically, and operating means arranged to raise and lower said top platen, the construction and arrangement being such that a timber frame truss to which fasteners are to be inserted may be placed on the bottom platen and the upper platen positioned at the appropriate point thereabove, and operated to apply a force to insert the fasteners.

In a further aspect, in a preferred form, the invention consists in a press means comprising a bottom platen adapted to receive a truss or frame, members of which are to be held together by multi-nail plate timber fasteners, frame means movably mounted on rails, and supportting a top platen and operating means arranged to raise and lower the top platen with respect to the bottom platen, said operating means comprising a single substantially centrally positioned hydraulic ram operating through lever means so arranged as to apply force at points arranged at either side of the hydraulic operating means, and towards the extremities of the top platen, and thus to gain a mechanical advantage at the points of application of the force to the platen.

One preferred form of the invention and modifications of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which,

Patented Sept. 20, 1971 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an end view partly in section of a press means according to the present invention, and,

FIG. 2 is an end view of the press means shown in FIG. 1 in which only part of the lower platen is shown.

Referring to the drawings, a press means 1, for inserting multi-nail plates, or Gang-Nails (registered trademark for timber fasteners is constructed as follows:

A bottom platen 2, as seen in'FIG. 1, is of reinforced concrete construction, and is provided with longitudinal reinforcing members 33, and transverse reinforcing members 34. This platen is of any suitable dimensions, and thus could have an effective operating width of about twelve feet, and a length of about forty feet. However, other sizes may be selected. On either side of the platen 2, rails 3 are mounted, each comprising a pair of lengths of flat steel placed side by side and mounted on supporting rods 35, which are embedded in the concrete of the platen 2 as shown.

The concrete in the platen 2 is of good strength, and for example it may be of a compressive strength of 4,000 p.s.i. at 28 days. The concrete is preferably mounted on a sand fill 6, on a firm base over which a polythene film has been positioned, and the existing ground is preferably compacted before the sand polythene and concrete are laid. Where the platen 2 is positioned in a concrete floor,

preferably a space is left around the platen 2, and this space is not filled with concrete sooner than six weeks after placing the main slab of the platen 2.

An upper platen 5 is carried on a travelling frame 4, which moves on wheels 9, along the rails 3, and as a result the upper platen 5 moves over the length of the lower platen 2, so that fasteners may be inserted at any point as will be described later.

The frame means comprise end frames 8, having lower members 36, which carry the wheels 9, two vertical posts 37, and a transverse upper member 38. Beams 12, are arranged so as to be adjustable vertically on the posts 37, and to this end, channel members 39 are provided which slide on the posts 37. The channel members 39 are con nected by a transverse plate 40 having a female screw thread therein, and a screw 41 and handles 13 are provided to adjust the height of the beams 12 above the lower platen 2, so that in use the forces developed by the press are transmitted to the platen 2. A series of compressive members 14 may be fitted between the upper surface of the beams 12, and the under surface of the members 38 or a member fitted between the members 38. In addition, plates 10 engage below a surface of the rails 3, and are fixed by brackets 42 to part of the end frames 8, thus uplift of the whole of the frame means exerted in inserting multi-nail fasteners 16 into timber members 17 is transmitted to the plate 2 through the plates 10 engaging the undersurfaces of the rails 3.

The main beams 12 have mounted therebetween a cross assembly 18 comprising two transverse channel members 43, which carry a hydraulic piston and cylinder assembly 19.

On each beam 12, a pair of brackets 27 is mounted and adapted to receive a pivot 26 for two sets of lever means 22. Each bracket 27 has a half bearing 44 in which the pivot 26 runs, with the pivot 26 being held in place by a U bolt and clamp 45. Each lever means 22 is V shaped in plan as may be seen in FIG. 2, and comprises a pair of lever arms 21 which pass from the beams 12, to a piston 20 of the piston and cylinder arrangement 19'. The ends of the lever means adjacent the pistons are rounded at 46 so that they can maintain engagement with collars 47 and 48 on the piston 20. Each lever means has a pressure pad 49 which bears on a roller 28; roller 28, in turn, is carried on a platform 29 having end plates 25. The platforms 29 are mounted on the upper surface of the upper platen 5 and on an angle thereto. It will be seen that in operation, when the piston 20 is extended from the piston and cylinder arrangement 19, the lever means 22 will move downwardly, pivoting on the pivot point 26, as a result of which rollers 28 will transmit pressure on the pressure pad 49 to the platforms 29. As a result, the platen 5 will be moved downwardly, with the force of the piston and cylinder arrangement being magnified by the leverage obtained through the lever arms 22.

In order to retract the platen 5, lifting arms 32 are provided which pass through a channel member 50 fitted between the lever arms 21 there being a slotted hole in the channels 50 and a curved washer 51 which is surmounted by rubber washers 53 held in position with nuts 52 on rods 32, which are pivoted at 54 to brackets 55 fitted to the platen 5. The result of this construction is, of course, that when lever means 22 are returned to the upper position, the platen 5 will be raised at the same time. Hydraulic fluid, under pressure, is delivered through suitable controls (not shown) from a pump 56 driven by a motor 57, with the controls being mounted adjacent a controllers operating platform 58. A drive means is provided for the wheels 9, and for example, a motor '59 drives a reduction gear 60 which, in turn, drives the wheels through a chain 60a and sprockets. If desired, this drive means may be duplicated on each side, or alternatively one motor may be provided with a transverse shaft driving the wheels on the opposite side to that on which the drive is mounted.

The use of the construction is as follows:

A timber truss 17 is placed in position, preferably with the members thereof held in position by suitable jigs which will allow some vertical movement while not allowing movement in the horizontal plane, such jigs are not shown as they do not form part of this invention. Following the placing of the timber members, multi-nail timber fasteners e.g. Gang-Nails 16, are positioned both above and/or below the positions where it is required to have them inserted into the timber. Thus the whole truss is laid out on the platen 2, and of course this has considerable advantages in that the operator can see whether his truss is accurately positioned before he commences depressing the gang nails 17 in position. Should the operator require to adjust the position of platen 5, so that there is reasonable clearance space between the platens 2 and 5, he can place a rod 61 shown in dotted outline in FIG. 1 so that it passes through the platen 5 and engages the platen 2 while the upper end engages the lower end of the piston 20. He now removes the compressive members 14. If, now, the hydraulic cylinder has pressure applied thereto then the force on the rod 61 will cause the beam 12 to be raised on the end frames 8. The handles 13 are then suitably operated to adjust their position, the compressive sections 14 are returned in position, and then the beams 12 are in the right position.

The operator then removes the rod 61 and the apparatus is ready to operate. The operator operates the motor '59 to drive the press to the position where it is over the gang nails which are required to be driven into the truss or frame members 17. When this occurs, the operator operates the piston and cylinder assembly 19 to force the piston downwardly. As a result, the lever members 22 are also moved downwardly. The pressure pads 49 apply pressure to platform 29 and thus the platen 5 through the rollers 28, and because the force of the piston and cylinder arrangement is magnified by the leverage, a piston force of about five tons can be magnified to a force of about thirty tons. Also, because of the adjustment feature, and because the gang nails themselves usually only penetrate about five-eighths of an inch, the pressing range can be quite short, for example, of the order of two or three inches.

A further advantage is that because of the V shape of the lever means 22, the force of the single piston and cylinder assembly 19 is transmitted towards the four corners of the platen 5, resulting in a more even application of force thereon, and a particular advantage here is that the truss members may be positioned in any convenient part of the platen, and for example, it would be possible to lay out two or more separate trusses at one time, with operators working from each side of the platen 2.

After the gang nails have been driven home, the platen is retracted by reversing the supply of hydraulic fluid to the piston and cylinder assembly 19, as a result of which, the levers 22 pull the platen up through the rods 32 and the channel members 50, as above referred to, with the collar 48 engaging the ends 46 of the levers 22.

The above construction has a number of important advantages:

First, because the platen 2 can be formed directly on the ground, it may be placed in a building, and the trusses built over the whole area of the platen to avoid the necessity of having to lay the truss out on one side of the press and progressively move the truss through the press as the fastenings are inserted.

Secondly, the press is designed so that the operating force is applied at the point Where such force is necessary, i.e., towards the four corners of the platen, and therefore lighter hydraulic equipment can be used. This is an advantage gained by using the V shaped lever means 22, so that the force is applied at four points rather than at a single point. Furthermore, because of the leverage obtained, only a small hydraulic cylinder may be provided, and because of the adjustment of the beams 12, only a small working range is needed as above referred to. It will be found that where a considerable amount of pressure is required to be applied to a particular group of fastenings, then such a point requiring considerable pressure is applied immediately under one of the pressure points; this is of considerable advantage in the operation of the press.

Fourthly, because the point at which the pressure is applied is two roller means, this force will actually be increased as the lever operates, because of the shortening of the distances between the pivot 26 and the roller 28 as the stroke of the piston from the cylinder increases.

With the present designed apparatus, it is envisaged that a mechanical advantage of leverage of one to eight could be used, but the apparatus may, of course, be operated with a greater or lesser mechanical advantage depending on particular requirements.

What I claim is:

1. A press means comprising a bottom platen adapted to receive a truss or frame, members of which are to be held together by multi-nail plate timber fasteners, rails mounted on either side of the bottom platen, frame means mounted on the rails, a top platen supported by the frame means and operating means arranged to raise and lower the top platen with respect to the bottom platen, said operating means comprising a single substantially centrally positioned hydraulic ram and a pair of levers, each having one end pivoted to the frame means and the opposite end being movable by the hydraulic ram, a pair of first bearing pads on said levers closed to the pivotal end thereof than to the free ends thereof, a pair of complimentary second bearing pads on said platen and rollers disposed between the first and second bearing pads for applying pressure from the first bearing pads to the second bearing pads and thus to the top platen, and retracting links loosely linking the top platen to said levers for enabling the platen to be retracted with the levers, said levers applying force at points arranged at either side of the hydraulic operating means, and towards the extremities of the top platen, and thus to gain a mechanical advantage at the points of application of the force to the platen.

2. The press as claimed in claim 1 wherein said mechanical advantage is of the order of at least six to one (6: 1) gained through said lever means.

3. The press as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mechanical advantage is of the order of eight to one (8:1).

4. The press as claimed in claim 1, wherein said frame means comprise a pair of end frames transverse beams, carried by the end frames, wheels running on said rails, the end frames being mounted on the wheels, and carrying plates adapted to engage an undersurface of said rails, when an uplifting force is applied to said frame means.

5. The press, as claimed in claim '4 wherein said beams of the frame means are adjustable relative to said lower platen.

6. The press, as claimed in claim wherein the adjustability of said beams relative to the lower platen is eifected by transmitting force from said hydraulic ram directly to said lower platen.

7. The press, as claimed in claim 5, including handoperated screws to move said beams relative to the end frame.

8. The press, as claimed in claim 5 including adjustable compressive spacers provided between said beams and said end frames, so that the forces from the upper platen are transmitted through said compressive spacers to said end frames.

9. The press, as claimed in claim 1 inwhich said frame means is adapted to be mechanically moved over said rails.

10. The press, as claimed in claim 9 wherein the mechanical movement of said frame means over said rails, is effected by a motor driving at least one of said wheels through reduction gears.

11. The press as claimed in claim 1 in which the levers are V-shaped in plan for applying force close to each corner of the platen.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,105,053 1/1938 Patrick -271 2,135,299 11/1938 Benander 100271X 3,195,449 7/1965 Jureit 100-257 3,196,700 7/1965 Gron 100-271X 3,334,580 8/1967 Smith 100226 3,388,657 6/1968 Jureit 100-208 3,495,5 27 2/ 1970 Lafreniere 100-226 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,129,041 9/1956 France 100257 1,387,049 12/1964 France 100272 63,699 9/1968 Germany 100257 75,408 1/ 1918 Switzerland 100226 BILLY J. WILHITE, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

